Text 4 May Week at Cambridge

Exercise 1. Read and translate the text.

The most interesting time of year in which to visit Cambridge is during May Week. This is neither in May nor during a week. For some reasons which nobody remembers, May Week is the name given to the first two weeks in June, the very end of the University year.

May Week denotes not so much a particular period of time as the general atmosphere of relaxation at the end of the year's work. It starts for each undergraduate when he finishes his examinations.

Everything as far as possible has to happen in the open air-parties, picnics, concerts and plays. May Week seems like a celebration of the coming of spring, till then ignored in favour of examinations, and this spirit of release seems to take over the entire (the whole) town. People go to the river behind the colleges which stand next to the river to watch May boat races in which young energetic men are ready to show off their skill.

Music and drama also have a part to play in the festivities. Nearly each college of the University (and there are over 20 of them) holds a May Week concert or presents a play in the open air.

But the most important events are the May Balls for which some girls do their best in advance to get invitations for a month. College May Balls are the climax of May Week and for many undergraduates are the final event of their university life, when the river is lit with coloured lights, ballroom orchestra plays for dancers and punts glide romantically down the river.

References

the May Balls - Майский бал

Vocabulary

relaxation - отдых, расслабление

undergraduate - студент

celebration - празднование

spirit of release - атмосфера отдыха

race - гонка, состязание

skill - умение, мастерство

festivity - празднество, торжество

climax - кульминация

to glide - скользить

punt - плоскодонка

Exercise 2. Supply answers to the following questions:

1. What is May Week?

2. When does it take place and how long does it last?

3. What does May Week seem?

4. Why do people go to the river behind the colleges?

Exercise 3. Retell the text in English using some key-words:

The most interesting time of year; the very end of the University year; to happen in the open air-parties, picnics, concerts and plays; seems like a celebration; boat races; the May Balls.

Exercise 4. Learn the proverbs and explain their meaning. Illustrate one of them using a real situation.

1. A little learning is a dangerous thing.

2. Better untaught than ill taught.

3. To know everything is to know nothing.

4. The wish is father to the thought.

Exercise 5. Students who wish to follow an examination preparation course at Watermouth College of Education have to have a short interview to satisfy the college authorities that their English is good enough to follow the course. These are some notes which the examiner uses during the interview. Practice with a partner: one is a student, the other is an examiner:

Examiner: What’s your name?

Student: My name is …

Watermouth College of Education Department of English Exam English as a foreign Language (Pre – course entry questionnaire) Name? Nationality? Home town? Marital status? Brothers and sisters? Years of English? Length of time spent in England? Occupation? Tell me about it. Hobbies? Tell me about them. Reason for learning English? Exams passed (if any)? Accommodation – flat, landlady or hotel? What would you do if you won 10.000 pounds? Other languages? What do you think about England? What major differences have you noticed between England and your country?

Exercise 6. Imagine you are a student who has just had an interview. Report to a friend:

Friend: What did they ask you?

Student: They asked me if I had any brothers or sisters. I told them I had a brother and two sisters.